Microsoft’s security team has come across a malware family that uses Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT) Serial-over-LAN (SOL) interface as a file transfer tool.

Because of the way the Intel AMT SOL technology works, SOL traffic bypasses the local computer’s networking stack, so local firewalls or security products won’t be able to detect or block the malware while it’s exfiltrating data from infected hosts.

Intel ME runs even when the main processor is powered off, and while this feature looks pretty shady, Intel built ME to provide remote administration capabilities to companies that manage large networks of thousands of computers…